Bleimes Family History
Chapter 6. Jacob and Beyond
Johann Jacob Germann's 1845 origin in the Kingdom of Bavaria slated him for a tedious and strenuous life as a hammer-smith or iron-forger as were his ancestors in that area. The place name was Höllenhammer, a barony owned by the Rexroth family that was engaged in the manufacture of forged iron items - a hot and hazardous job. With the development of more modern methods, this "mom-and-pop" forge operation has died out. In 2004 there is only one such place still in operation: an historical remnant, partially government subsidized, at Hasloch, Bavaria.
His parents, and some other ancestors, [Jacob Germann's Ancestry Chart] were born to the hammer-smith trade. Even his mother, Eva Katharine Grospetit, came from a Swiss "smithy" who originated in Undervelier, in the French side of Switzerland. They emigrated to Bavaria.
Höllenhammer exists today, mostly intact and still in the possession of Rexroth heirs, but its function is as a group of vacation homes leased or rented to well-to-do people from other locales. It is quite pretty and its setting in the Spessart forest area could be considered ideal.
But Jacob did not wish to stay there and labor intensively for the rest of his life, so he decided to try life in the US. Details of the trip are unknown but Jacob, later joined by his mother and sister in 1868, sailed from Rotterdam and arrived in New York 27 November 1866. He worked on docks in Newark and Orange, New Jersey until July 1867, then moved to Catasauqua, a suburb of Allentown, Pennsylvania and got a job working at a blast furnace. His naturalization was certified in Allentown 11 September 1872.
In March 1874 the Germann's left Pennsylvania for Ohio. No doubt Jacob wanted out of hot steel, but another factor may have spurred the move. Jacob's sister, Anna Maria Katharine Germann - known to most as Mary - bore a son out of wedlock in Catasauqua on 9 December 1871; and did not name a father. This was unacceptable behavior in that era and it could have triggered the move.
So now all of the family members, Jacob, his mother Eva, sister Mary, brother J. Wilhelm and nephew William F., were established in Columbus, Ohio. There Jacob had jobs at a rail mill and at Gill’s Car Works before attaining his goal of shedding the millstone of hard labor and became a merchant. He had at least one saloon and grocery business in the south end of town. Mary kept house for him and was paid wages. Incidentally, Mary was an excellent technical artist. His brother J. William, a locksmith, had in 1870 married Elizabeth Will, of Darmstadt, Germany in Columbus and started his family. He died of an accident in 1876. [Wilheim Germann Family Chart] The mother died in 1889; Mary in 1907.
In 1892 Jacob took a trip. He traveled to Little Rock, Arkansas and, at
age 47 married Bertha Robinson, 28, a widow with two children. They almost
immediately went to Columbus and made a home. The meeting and joining
of this couple is a subject of some guesswork; here is a list
of factors as I see them 100+ years later:
1. Jacob was overdue to marry. The delay may have been because of his
responsibilities to his mother, sister and nephew. In 1892 Eva was deceased,
Mary was working and William. F. was 21, so his load was considerably
reduced.
2. There was some acquaintance between Jacob and the Amrhein brothers,
William of Little Rock, and Anton of Columbus. William was married to
Bertha’s mother and so would have informed Anton of Bertha being
widowed. Anton probably informed Jacob and acted as a go-between in arranging
a meeting between Jacob and Bertha.
3. Jacob and Bertha probably had a short, somewhat arranged courtship.
Then they had to hurry back to the saloon business that was in Mary’s
unstable hands.
The Germann’s had two children: Eva, who has her own chapter, and
Floyd, born in 1900. Floyd attended public school and took violin lessons.
He and his cousin Herbert Morbitzer were good buddies and played together
frequently. He had some heart trouble, and around New Years day, 1909
he contracted typhoid fever, then pneumonia and died March 3rd 1909. Obituaries
were published in both English and German language newspapers.
Floyd Jacob Germann
Aside from his businesses Jacob was active in civic and
educational matters. He occasionally wrote letters to public officials.
He kept a general purpose journal in which were (some) copies of correspondence,
family vital records, clippings and building plans. He had some buildings
built but their purpose and use is unknown.
In 1903 Jacob moved his family to 1973 Parsons Avenue and
opened a dry-goods store. Typically of the time, the Germann’s heated
their home with a stove. It would appear that Jacob had a stroke or seizure
of some sort, then fell into the stove. His clothing ignited and he burned
to death 14 March 1914 at age 69.
- A little side light on Anton Amrhein and his wife Barbara
– they had a thirty-year-old unmarried son Louis, who was a bit
slow. He had a fascination for the family cistern in the back yard, and
liked to peer down inside it even though he had been warned not to. So,
one March day in 1897 he fell in and drowned. You really should pay some
attention to your folks.
Chapter 7.